


Brother and Sister

by ncfan



Series: Life Under a Starlit Sky [1]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-30 06:25:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1015254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncfan/pseuds/ncfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They awake next to one another, beneath the trees and stars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brother and Sister

With a gentle calling, Ilúvatar breathes upon the sleepers, makes them living flesh and blood instead of cold clay fashioned in the shape of living things. They awaken beneath the trees and the stars, beside the still, placid waters of the lake. This is the cradle of life for those who will be called the Quendi, the Edhil, the Eldar, the Elves. These are the waters of awakening.

They awaken in pairs lying next to one another on the leaves and the sweet grass. In time, the chronicles will come to say that these pairs were all of one male and one female, husband and wife. They will say that it pleased Ilúvatar to create mated pairs whose greatest love was for each other, that the Quendi were created in mated pairs that they might bear children, be fruitful and multiply. However, the chronicles do not always tell the tale of history, and in this case, it does not tell the tale at all.

Indeed, the Quendi awaken in pairs. Ilúvatar does not wish for them to waken alone and be lonely. But these are not restricted to mated pairs. Some do call each other 'husband' or 'wife', but there are others who call the one they awaken next to 'brother' or 'sister' or 'friend.'

Ingwë and Indis awaken next to each other, beneath the trees and the stars. Lying on the ground, they stare into each other's faces, and see forms and faces very similar to their own—tall and fair, with pale hair and blue eyes. They look at one another, and the first thing each of them do is smile.

When they have the words to do so, they call each other 'brother' and 'sister', call each other by the names that they awoke knowing instinctively were theirs. There is no concept of older or younger; they awoke, after all, at exactly the same time.

Indis and Ingwë wander beneath the trees and the stars, hand in hand, searching for others like them. They come upon others like them eventually, pale of hair and fair of face; they come to be called the Minyar.

Through time, even though distance will separate them, and so too will marriage, they will still be like this. Though there will be walls raised between them, the siblings of the Minyar will always hold in their minds the moment when they awoke next to each other.

How could they ever cease to be dear to one another?


End file.
